STANDING FIRM
Opening Prayer
You are an ever-present source of strength and hope in every trial I face, Father. Thank you for your promise to never lose your grip on me.
Read HEBREWS 10:26–39
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[a] and again, “The Lord will judge his people.”[b] 31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
32 Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. 33 Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34 You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. 35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.
36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For,
“In just a little while,
he who is coming will come
and will not delay.”[c]
38 And,
“But my righteous[d] one will live by faith.
And I take no pleasure
in the one who shrinks back.”[e]
39 But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.
Footnotes
- Hebrews 10:30 Deut. 32:35
- Hebrews 10:30 Deut. 32:36; Psalm 135:14
- Hebrews 10:37 Isaiah 26:20; Hab. 2:3
- Hebrews 10:38 Some early manuscripts But the righteous
- Hebrews 10:38 Hab. 2:4 (see Septuagint)
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
‘On Christ, the solid rock, I stand; all other ground is sinking sand.’* When have you needed to be really aware of the rock under your feet?The two sections in this passage each have a key word. In the first section, that word is ‘deliberately’ (v. 26). The writer to the Hebrews was not talking about occasions when we might unwittingly or accidentally do something sinful. Neither was it about giving in to temptation or drifting away (however that may happen) from faith. Those things can be repented of and forgiven; people can be restored. The writer was talking about public, willful, intentional denial of everything to do with Christ and his sacrifice, which was once believed. And that will, rightly, come under God’s judgment (vv. 29–31).
In the second section, the key word is ‘persevere’ (v. 36). Readers are reminded of difficult things they’ve suffered, or times when they’ve been a support to others going through similar things. Perseverance is hard work; perseverance is gritted teeth, fists clenched, keeping on keeping on— but with the confidence that we’re doing God’s will, persevering by his Spirit and in his strength, and that his rich reward to the faithful will be ours (v. 39; see also Romans 5:3–5).
Apply
It is a great sadness to be aware of anyone who was once a person who testified of clear faith, but is now repudiating it. It is a great joy to see someone persevering in faith through challenging times. How do you relate to those in either circumstance?
Closing prayer
Holy Spirit, I trust you to do the work that only you can. Continue to build faith in those who are persevering in Christ and convict those who need to acknowledge him as Lord.
*’My hope is built on nothing less’, Edward Mote 1834
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